E. Bay garbage strike on hold

Erin McCormick and Eric Brazil, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, July 1, 1997

1997-07-01 04:00:00 PDT ALAMEDA COUNTY -- OAKLAND - A six-hour strike by mechanics for Alameda County's principal garbage collection firm was called off at mid-morning Tuesday, when they were persuaded to agree to a 10-day cooling-off period.

Oakland City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente, meeting with representatives of Waste Management of Alameda County and East Bay Machinists Local 1546, brokered the agreement to shelve the strike for 10 days just as garbage was beginning to pile up.

Tuesday's strike, brief though it was, appeared effective because Teamsters truck drivers and equipment operators observed the strikers' picket lines at five Waste Management sites, including its headquarters near Oakland Airport.

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"They're going back to work. It's great. Now we'll get that garbage picked up," said Waste Management Vice President Claude Everhart, a former San Francisco deputy mayor.

The strike was the first in Alameda County against Waste Management, a national company which serves 300,000 homes in the county, Everhart said.

Mechanics represented by East Bay Machinists Local 1546 struck at dawn following the midnight expiration of their contract.

"They (management) think we're just pushovers," said Harvey Carlsen, a mechanic with Waste Management for the past 17 years, who was carrying a picket sign early Tuesday morning at the company's 98th Avenue headquarters. "The garbage is piling up. The thing that happened in Frisco (in April) is happening in Oakland today."

About 750 Teamsters, all of the company's truck drivers and equipment operators, initially stayed off the job, even though their contract contains a clause ostensibly prohibiting them from walking out in support of the Machinists Union.

The issue is that the mechanics, who service all Waste Management's garbage trucks and stationary and earth-moving equipment and recycling centers, want wage and benefits parity with the Teamsters.

Mechanics with Waste Management now earn $13 to $22.80 an hour; management has offered a $1 an hour increase. Teamsters Local 70 recently negotiated a contract increasing their wages by $4.65 an hour over four years.

"Our last two contracts have been lousy," said Bob Machado, a technician who is a Machinists Union member.

"We took a 30 cent an hour raise, but we've made up our minds not to do it again."

Carlsen said machinists believe that, as skilled workers who have to furnish their own tools, they should be paid at least as much as the truck drivers and equipment operators.

Everhart said Waste Management was able to give the Teamsters a big bump because it cut the number of drivers who pick up garbage.

"The mechanics feel that the Teamsters got a better deal than they're getting, but when we changed to a "one pass' system, we got a person off a truck and increased the hours people drive. That meant substantial cost savings, and we have passed some along to our workers, to be fair," Everhart said. "The mechanics aren't willing to talk about the same kinds of savings, and if they don't, we're going to have to call around the country for replacements."

Joe Bobo, area director for East Bay Machinists Local 1546, said that "parity has been our issue all along during the negotiations. Waste Management has not proposed the same type of conditions (that it offered the Teamsters)."

The strike was the second to hit a major Bay Area garbage company this year. San Francisco garbage collectors struck Norcal Waste Systems, Inc., for three days in April.&lt;